Monday, October 03, 2016

As he has emerged over
the past couple of years as the leading figure in Idaho’s antigovernment
movement, Brandon Curtiss has cultivated a straight-talking,
square-dealing public image with both the public and the followers of
his 3% of Idaho organization.

Brandon Curtiss (second from left) and
Eric 'EJ' Parker (right) in happier times, protesting the Bureau of Land
Management in Medford, Ore., in April 2015.

That image, however, collapsed like this week when a large and
prominent group of his followers – including his former vice president
and longtime cohort in the organization, Eric “EJ” Parker – announced
their resignations from 3% of Idaho. The group of 36 members were
angered over his reported misappropriation of funds raised to help the
defense of four Idahoans, notably Parker himself, by federal authorities
over their respective roles in two federal lands standoffs led by
Cliven Bundy and his two sons in Nevada and Oregon.

According to the Idaho Statesman,
some of the members were able to gain access to the PayPal website page
and bank accounts for the organization’s “Freedom Fest” concert, held
as a fund-raiser for four “political prisoners” – Parker, 32, of Hailey,
Steve Arthur Stewart, 36, of Hailey, O. Scott Drexler, 44, of Challis
and Todd Engel, 48, of Boundary County – arrested on charges
related to the Nevada standoff in April 2014 in Bunkerville, Nev. What
they discovered was a steady outflow of funds from the account for
Curtiss’ personal use, including:

“Rollin Smoke Diesel” parts for a
pickup that allow owners to customize their trucks so they belch large
amounts of black smoke, a popular fad with right-wing activists who
oppose global-warming activism.

A camping reservation.

Gas and food at a truck stop in Nevada.

A car wash.

Payment for a storage unit.

Payment for online personal-investigation services.

A Walmart purchase.

An iTunes download.

Already before the $2,475 in funds from the concert were
deposited, the account was overdrawn some $567, mostly from Curtiss’
personal use, which was immediately withdrawn. When one former member
observed this and objected to Curtiss, according to the Statesman, she
was dismissed from the organization.

“Many of us, in one way or another have worked toward, contributed
to, donated for, and sacrificed our time, hope, energy, and resources to
help these men in their hour of need,” wrote the departing members in
an official statement. “It is with heavy hearts that we, the
undersigned, do solemnly testify to you that we believe that substantial
portions of these gifts have been grievously misused within the Idaho
III% organization. We do not put forth this accusation lightly, or
without due diligence and proper deliberation ad nauseum.”

3% of Idaho issued a statement
Thursday calling the revelations a "smear campaign" and asserting that a
promised audit of the group's finances would demonstrate that funds
were not mishandled. It also claimed
that the group had raised much more money for the prisoners than what
had been raised at the concert, and that those funds had been spent on
their defense.

But Curtiss became an even more significant figure in January 2016 when he helped organize a protest in Burns, Ore.,
against the imminent incarceration of two local ranchers, which
afterward morphed into the armed takeover of the nearby Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge by Ammon and Ryan Bundy and their cohort of several
dozen militiamen. While his 3% group did not endorse the takeover or
participate in it directly, Curtiss later led a contingent of armed militiamen
back to Burns to briefly act as “a buffer” between the standoff
participants and federal authorities, but returned to Idaho after less
than a week.

When four of their fellow Patriots, including Parker, were arrested in federal sweeps after the Malheur standoff ended, Curtiss’ group organized a mass protest
of the arrests on the Statehouse steps in Boise, which was later
followed by concert fund-raising event in Twin Falls. Parker made a
national name for himself by being photographed aiming a sniper rifle
in the direction of the federal agents and other law enforcement
officers who were attempting to execute a federal court order directing
the Bureau of Land Management to round up Bundy’s cattle in Bunkerville,
and has been charged in connection with that.

However, clouds of concern had already begun to hover over Curtiss for his dubious business dealings. After an interview in the Oregonian raised questions about his property management and real estate business in Meridian, the Statesman uncovered
a long history of personal bankruptcies and questionable business
dealings. Curtiss, it emerged, had already filed twice for bankruptcy,
first in 2001 and then again in 2009. After returning from Burns, he
filed for bankruptcy a third time, having racked up $235,000 in debt
since 2009.

Then, earlier this month, the Statesman reported
that Curtiss had been fined $7,200 by an Ada County judge for having
failed to carry workers’ compensation insurance for his employees. The
state police, it reported, also was opening an investigation into claims
from 17 of Curtiss’ clients that he owed them money.

Curtiss, who had since moved from Meridian to Fruitland, told the
Statesman in an email that he had shut down his business. “We are in the
process of winding down and will make all efforts to fulfill any
outstanding obligations,” he wrote.

The latest financial eruption around Curtiss, however, has created a wave of disappointment among his former followers.

“What bothers everyone the most is seeing how much money was spent in
such a reckless manner, when it was supposed to go to our political
prisoners. These four families are fighting a battle against the
government and have now been betrayed,” a former member told the
Statesman.

However, at the Facebook page of Curtiss’ girlfriend, Brooke Agresta,
there was a post warning that anyone disseminating the group’s bank
information would face legal consequences, citing Idaho Code: “Anyone,
and I mean anyone, in possession of or intentionally handing out bank
statements, PayPal statements, or that has accessed any accounts of
another person or organization in relation to the Idaho 3% will be
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Sara Robinson has worked as an editor or columnist for several national magazines, on beats as varied as sports, travel, and the Olympics; and has contributed to over 80 computer games for EA, Lucasfilm, Disney, and many other companies. A native of California's High Sierra, she spent 20 years in Silicon Valley before moving to Vancouver, BC in 2004. She currently is pursuing an MS in Futures Studies at the University of Houston. You can reach her at srobinson@enginesofmischief.com.